Koalas have a gut full of bacteria that is essential to digest eucalyptus leaves. So if you’re giving them systematic antibiotics, it is actually killing this.

Wilson outlined his plan:

We could do a huge, large-scale round up and bring them into hospital but it’s too resource intensive and not really feasible.

They’re transmitting chlamydia to each other and many of them can’t be healed. These koalas are in a lot of pain and if they’re out of the time-range of antibiotics being effective; the humane thing to do is probably to euthanize them.

Wilson’s hope is that in executing a cull now the population will bounce back in the next five to ten years.

A vaccine is currently being developed with early trials suggesting it is effective in preventing koalas catching Chlamydia, but it will reportedly be another three years before a functional vaccine is available on a large scale.

It certainly is a dilemma, with humans perhaps having to be cruel in order to be kind, and prevent as many bears as possible from suffering.